The present invention relates to faucets having pullout sprayheads and, more particularly, to improvements in the manner by which the sprayhead is coupled and/or uncoupled from the faucet body.
Faucets having sprayheads that pull out from the faucet body enable users to manipulate the sprayhead independent of the faucet body and to aim the water spray directly at a target instead of requiring the user to place the target under the sprayhead. Such prior art faucets typically utilize locking bayonet connectors, or connectors comprising collars and snap fingers to produce a retaining force to couple the sprayhead to the faucet body.
The present invention generally provides a faucet having an improved coupling for use in coupling and uncoupling a pullout sprayhead from the body of the faucet. In one illustrative embodiment, the faucet includes a body, a supply line adapted to provide a liquid, and a head fluidly connected to the supply line. The faucet also includes a magnetic coupling. The magnetic coupling has a magnetic attracting force for releasably coupling together the head and the body, and a coupling surface supported by one of the head and the body. Further, the magnetic coupling has a first backing element to increase the magnetic attracting force and being positioned on one side of the coupling surface, a first connecting element being positioned between the coupling surface and the first backing element, and a magnetically attractive member being positioned on the other side of the coupling surface.
According to another illustrative embodiment, a method of coupling and uncoupling a faucet head from a faucet body is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a head, a body, a first connecting element and a first backing element in one of the body and the head, and a magnetically attractive member in the other of the body and the head. The method further includes the step of generating a magnetic field attracting together the head and the body, thereby coupling the head to the body.
According to a further illustrative embodiment, the faucet includes a body, a supply line adapted to provide a liquid, and a head fluidly connected to the supply line. The faucet also includes a magnetic coupling. The magnetic coupling has a magnetic attracting force for releasably coupling together the head and the body, and a coupling surface supported by one of the head and the body. The magnetic coupling has a magnetically attractive member being positioned on one side of the coupling surface, a first connector being coupled to one of the head and the body and being positioned on the other side of the coupling surface, and a first connecting element also being positioned on the other side of the coupling surface. The first connector is at least partially overmolded over the first connecting element to couple the first connecting element to one of the head and the body.
The above mentioned and other features of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present invention. Although the exemplification set out herein illustrates embodiments of the invention, in several forms, the embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention to the precise forms disclosed.